3 Silent Classics by Josef von Sternberg

Vienna-born, New York–raised Josef von Sternberg directed some of the most influential, stylish dramas ever to come out of Hollywood. Though best known for his star-making collaborations with Marlene Dietrich, von Sternberg began his career during the final years of the silent era, dazzling audiences and critics with his films’ dark visions and innovative cinematography. The titles in this collection, made on the cusp of the sound age, are three of von Sternberg’s greatest works, gritty evocations of gangster life (Underworld), the Russian Revolution (The Last Command), and working-class desperation (The Docks of New York) made into shadowy movie spectacle. Criterion is proud to present these long unavailable classics of American cinema, each with two musical scores.

Special Features

Six scores: by Robert Israel for all three films, Alloy Orchestra for Underworld and The Last Command;, and Donald Sosin and Joanna Seaton for The Docks of New York

Two new visual essays, one by UCLA film professor Janet Bergstrom and the other by film scholar Tag Gallagher

Swedish television interview from 1968 with director Josef von Sternberg

PLUS: A ninety-six-page booklet featuring essays by Geoffrey O’Brien, Anton Kaes, and Luc Sante; notes on the scores by the composers; Ben Hecht's original story for Underworld; and an excerpt from von Sternberg’s autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, on actor Emil Jannings